Knowledge Base Wiki

April 20 is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 255 days remaining until the end of the year.

• 1303 - University of Rome La Sapienza is founded by Pope Boniface VIII.
• 1453 – Last naval battle in Byzantine history, as three Genoese galleys escorting a Byzantine transport fight their way through the huge Ottoman blockade fleet into the Golden Horn.
• 1534 – Jacques Cartier sets sail from France on an expedition that will take him to present-day Canada, including Labrador.
• 1653 – Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump parliament.
• 1657 – Freedom of religion is granted to Jews in New Amsterdam, present-day New York City.
• 1689 - James II of England/James VII of Scotland lays siege to Derry in present-day Northern Ireland.
• 1770 - Irekle II, King of Georgia, abandoned by his Russian ally Count Totleben, wins against Ottoman Empire forces at Aspindza.
• 1775 – American Revolutionary War: The Siege of Boston begins.
• 1792 – France declares war on Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1810 – The Governor of Caracas (Venezuela), declares independence from Spain.
• 1828 – René Caillié becomes the first non-Muslim to enter Timbuktu.
• 1836 - United States Congress passes the act creating the Wisconsin territory.
• 1862 – Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the first pasteurization process.
• 1876 - The April Uprising begins in Bulgaria.
• 1887 – The first car race is held in France, on a course running from Paris to Versailles.
• 1889 – Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is born in Braunau am Inn, Austria.

• 1902 – Marie Curie and Pierre Curie refine Radium.
• 1912 – Baseball: The Tiger Stadium (Detroit) and Fenway Park (Boston) open.
• 1914 - 19 people die in the Ludlow massacre in Colorado during a coal miners strike.
• 1916 - In baseball, the Chicago Cubs play their first game at Weeghman Park, now called Wrigley Field, defeating the Cincinnati Reds 7-6.
• 1920 – The 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp begin.
• 1922 - The Soviet government creates the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
• 1939 - Billie Holiday records the first civil rights song Strange Fruit.
• 1944 - Dutch freighter Voorbode explodes in the harbor of Bergen, Norway, killing 150 people.
• 1945 – World War II: US troops capture Leipzig, which is later handed to Soviet forces.
• 1945 – World War II: At the Führerbunker, Adolf Hitler makes his last outside appearance, handing Iron Cross medals to members of the Hitler Youth on his 56th birthday.
• 1946 - The League of Nations officially dissolves, giving most of its powers to the United Nations.
• 1947 – King Christian X of Denmark dies. King Frederick IX of Denmark succeeds him.
• 1951 - Dan Gavriliu performs the first surgical replacement of a human organ.
• 1964 – The British TV Channel BBC Two begins transmission, but a power cut occurs, due to a fire at Battersea Power Station in London.
• 1967 - A Globe Air plane crashes against a mountain near Nicosia, Cyprus, killing 126 people.
• 1968 - A South African Airways plane crashes shortly after take-off from Windhoek, Namibia, killing 129 people.
• 1968 - Pierre Trudeau becomes Prime Minister of Canada.
• 1968 – British politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial "Rivers of Blood" speech, in which he calls for tighter immigration controls.
• 1972 – Apollo 16 lands on the Moon.
• 1978 – Korean Air Flight 902 is shot down by the Soviets.
• 1986 – Vladimir Horowitz performs in Russia for the first time in 61 years.
• 1986 - Chicago Bulls basketball star Michael Jordan scores a playoff record 63 points in a single game, against the Boston Celtics.
• 1989 – Scientists announce that an Asteroid has narrowly missed hitting the Earth.
• 1992 - Surviving members of the band Queen hold a tribute concert to Freddie Mercury at Wembley Stadium.
• 1998 – The Red Army Faction announces an end to its operations.
• 1999 – Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two teenagers, go on a shooting spree at Columbine High School, near Littleton, Colorado.

• 2005 – In Ecuador, President Lucio Gutiérrez is removed by Parliament and replaced by Alfredo Palacio.
• 2007 - Johnson Space Center shooting: A man with a handgun barricades himself in the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and kills a male hostage before killing himself.
• 2008 – Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300, becoming the first woman to win an Indy car race.
• 2010 – Deepwater Horizon oil spill: An explosion occurs on the Deepwater Horizon Oil rig, near Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 people, and causing the worst Oil spill in US history.
• 2011 – Photojournalist Tim Hetherington and journalist Chris Hondros are killed in Libya during the 2011 Libyan civil war.
• 2012 - A Bhoja Air plane crashes near Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 127 people.
• 2013 - At least 160 people are killed after an earthquake of over magnitude 6 strikes Sichuan province in China.
• 2013 - Giorgio Napolitano is elected to a second term as President of Italy. It is the first time that an Italian President has been elected to a second term in office.
• 2017 - In Paris, shooting toward police officers killed one officer and the attacker.

• 570 – Muhammad the Prophet, founder of Islam (d. 632)
• 1492 - Pietro Aretino, Italian writer and poet (d. 1556)
• 1494 – Johannes Agricola, German religious reformer (d. 1566)
• 1586 – Saint Rose of Lima, Peruvian saint (d. 1617)
• 1633 – Emperor Go-Komyo, Emperor of Japan (d. 1654)
• 1723 - Cornelius Harnett, American merchant, farmer and statesman (d. 1781)
• 1745 - Philippe Pinel, French physician (d. 1826)
• 1748 – Georg Michael Telemann, German composer (d. 1839)
• 1808 – Emperor Napoleon III of France (d. 1873)
• 1809 - James David Forbes, Scottish physicist and glaciologist (d. 1868)
• 1818 - Albrecht von Stosch, German general and admiral (d. 1896)
• 1839 – King Carol I of Romania (d. 1914)
• 1842 - John Murphy Farley, Irish-American cardinal (d. 1918)
• 1850 - Daniel Chester French, American sculptor (d. 1931)
• 1851 – Torakusu Yamaha, Japanese entrepreneur (d. 1916)
• 1851 – Young Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (d. 1875)
• 1851 - Eduardo Acevedo Díaz, Uruguayan writer and politician (d. 1921)
• 1852 - John Murphy Farley, Archbishop of New York and cardinal (d. 1918)
• 1855 – Inukai Tsuyoshi, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1932)
• 1859 - Vincenzo Cerulli, Italian astronomer (d. 1927)
• 1860 - Pieter Jelles Troelstra, Dutch-Frisian poet and politician (d. 1930)
• 1871 - Sydney Chapman, British economist (d. 1951)
• 1871 - Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, Croatian engineer and inventor (d. 1972)
• 1875 - Vladimir Vidric, Croatian poet (d. 1989)
• 1879 - Paul Poiret, French fashion designer (d. 1944)
• 1884 – Daniel Varujan, Armenian poet (d. 1915)
• 1884 – Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1966)
• 1889 – Adolf Hitler, Nazi leader (d. 1945)
• 1890 – Adolf Schaerf, President of Austria (d. 1965)
• 1890 – Maurice Duplessis, Premier of Quebec (d. 1959)
• 1893 – Joan Miró, Spanish painter (d. 1983)
• 1893 – Edna Parker, American supercentenarian, oldest person in the world at the time of her death (d. 2008)
• 1893 – Harold Lloyd, American actor (d. 1971)
• 1895 - Emile Christian, American jazz musician (d. 1973)
• 1896 - Wop May, Canadian pilot and captain (d. 1952)

• 1904 – Bruce Cabot, American actor (d. 1972)
• 1904 - George Stibitz, American scientist (d. 1995)
• 1908 - Lionel Hampton, American jazz musician, bandleader and actor (d. 2002)
• 1910 – Robert F. Wagner, Jr., Mayor of New York City (d. 1991)
• 1911 – Kukrit Pramoj, Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 1995)
• 1913 - Roger Rochard, French long-distance runner (d. 1993)
• 1914 - Betty Lou Gerson, American actress (d. 1999)
• 1918 – Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist (d. 2007)
• 1920 – John Paul Stevens, American jurist (d. 2019)
• 1923 - Mother Angelica, American nun and broadcaster (d. 2016)
• 1923 - Tito Puente, American jazz musician and producer (d. 2000)
• 1923 - Jorge Romo, Mexican footballer (d. 2014)
• 1924 – Leslie Phillips, British actor
• 1924 - Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (d. 2008)
• 1925 - Elena Verdugo, American actress (d. 2017)
• 1927 – Karl Alexander Müller, Swiss physicist
• 1927 – Phil Hill, American racing driver (d. 2008)
• 1928 - Robert Byrne, American chess player (d. 2013)
• 1928 - Arvo Kruusement, Estonian movie director
• 1930 - Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (d. 2014)
• 1935 - Mario Camus, Spanish screenwriter and movie director
• 1936 – Pat Roberts, United States Senator
• 1936 - Pauli Ellefsen, 6th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 2012)
• 1937 – Jiri Dienstbier, Czech politician and journalist (d. 2011)
• 1937 – George Takei, American actor
• 1938 - Betty Cuthbert, Australian athlete (d. 2017)
• 1938 - Igor Sergeyev, Marshal of the Russian Federation (d. 2006)
• 1938 – Peter Snow, British broadcaster
• 1939 - Peter S. Beagle, American writer
• 1939 – Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway
• 1939 - Wayson Choy, Canadian writer (d. 2019)
• 1940 - James Gammon, American actor (d. 2010)
• 1941 - Ryan O'Neal, American actor
• 1942 – Arto Paasilinna, Finnish writer (d. 2018)
• 1943 – Alan Beith, British politician, former MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed
• 1943 - John Eliot Gardiner, British conductor
• 1943 – Edie Sedgwick, American actress (d. 1971)
• 1945 - Michael Brandon, American actor
• 1945 - Gregory Olsen, American entrepreneur
• 1945 - Gerry Steinberg, English politician (d. 2015)
• 1945 - Thein Sein, President of Burma
• 1946 – Sabine Bergmann-Pohl, German politician
• 1947 - David Leland, British director, actor and screenwriter
• 1947 - Björn Skifs, Swedish singer-songwriter, actor and screenwriter
• 1949 – Massimo D'Alema, former Prime Minister of Italy
• 1949 – Aleksandr Maltsev, Russian ice hockey player
• 1949 – Jessica Lange, American actress
• 1949 – Toller Cranston, Canadian figure skater (d. 2015)
• 1949 - Paul Heiney, English journalist
• 1950 - N. Chandrababu Naidu, Indian politician, 13th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
• 1950 – Alexander Lebed, Russian general and politician (d. 2002)
• 1950 - Ibrahim Yusri, Egyptian actor (d. 2015)

• 1951 – Luther Vandross, American singer (d. 2005)
• 1952 - Eric Pickles, British politician
• 1953 – Sebastian Faulks, British writer
• 1956 – Kevin Judge, American Internet Security Expert
• 1958 - Viacheslav Fetisov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1959 – Clint Howard, American actor
• 1960 - Miguel Diaz-Canel, President of Cuba
• 1961 – Nicholas Lyndhurst, British actor
• 1961 - Paul Usher, British actor
• 1962 - Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, former Prime Minister of Iceland
• 1963 - Rachel Whiteread, British artist and sculptor
• 1964 – Andy Serkis, British actor
• 1964 - Crispin Glover, American actor
• 1964 - Rosalynn Summers, American figure skater
• 1965 - Susan Cookson, British actress
• 1965 - April March, American singer-songwriter
• 1965 - Bernardo Fernando da Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1966 – David Chalmers, Australian philosopher
• 1966 - David Filo, American businessman and co-founder of Google
• 1967 - Mike Portnoy, American musician
• 1967 – Raymond van Barneveld, Dutch darts player
• 1968 - Julia Morris, Australian actress and television presenter
• 1969 - Felix Baumgartner, Austrian skydiver
• 1970 - Shemar Moore, American actor
• 1972 – Carmen Electra, American actress, singer and model
• 1972 – Marko Kon, Serbian composer, singer and actor
• 1972 - Stephen Marley, Jamaican musician

• 1976 – Aldo Bobadilla, Paraguayan footballer
• 1976 – Shay Given, Irish footballer
• 1976 - Joey Lawrence, American actor
• 1976 - Chris Mason, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1979 - Gregor Tait, Scottish swimmer
• 1979 – Ludovic Magnin, Swiss footballer
• 1980 - Vibeke Skofterud, Norwegian cross-country skier (d. 2018)
• 1980 – Jasmin Wagner, German singer
• 1980 – Lee Wilkie, Scottish footballer
• 1981 - Mike Blair, Scottish rugby union player and coach
• 1983 – Miranda Kerr, Australian supermodel
• 1983 - Danny Granger, American actor, producer and musician
• 1984 - Nelson Evora, Portuguese athlete
• 1984 - Edixon Perea, Colombian footballer
• 1985 – Brent Seabrook, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1985 - Curt Hawkins, American professional wrestler
• 1987 - John Patrick Amedori, American actor
• 1987 - Anna Rossinelli, Swiss singer
• 1991 - Thomas Curtis, American actor
• 1991 - Ondrej Krajak, Czech footballer
• 1992 - Ashton Moio, American actor, stuntman and martial artist
• 1997 - Alexander Zverev, German tennis player
• 1999 - Carly Rose Sonenclar, American actress
• 2000 – Funny Cide, American racehorse

• 689 - Caedwalla, King of Wessex
• 1176 - Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English military leader (b. 1130)
• 1314 – Pope Clement V (b. 1264)
• 1517 - Bogdan III the One-Eyed, Romanian son of Stephen of Moldavia (b. 1470)
• 1521 – Zhengde Emperor of China (b. 1491)
• 1526 – Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan of Delhi
• 1534 - Elizabeth Barton, English nun and saint (b. 1506)
• 1558 - Johannes Bugenhagen, German priest and theologian (b. 1485)
• 1769 – Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawa (b. 1720)
• 1786 – John Goodricke, English astronomer (b. 1746)
• 1812 – George Clinton, US Vice President and Governor of New York (b. 1739)
• 1831 - John Abernethy, English surgeon (b. 1864)
• 1869 - Carl Loewe, German composer (b. 1796)
• 1873 - William Tite, English architect (b. 1798)
• 1874 - Alexander H. Bailey, American politician (b. 1817)
• 1887 – Muhammad Sharif Pasha, Egyptian statesman (b. 1826)
• 1899 – Joseph Wolf, German artist (b. 1820)

• 1902 - Joaquim de Sousa Andrade, Brazilian poet (b. 1833)
• 1912 – Bram Stoker, Irish writer (b. 1847)
• 1912 - Pedro Lira, Chilean painter (b. 1845)
• 1914 - Ivar Wickman, Swedish physician (b. 1872)
• 1918 – Karl Ferdinand Braun, German physicist (b. 1850)
• 1927 - Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter (b. 1866)
• 1929 - Prince Albert Wilhelm Heinrich of Prussia (b. 1862)
• 1932 - Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician (b. 1858)
• 1935 - John Cameron, Scottish footballer (b. 1872)
• 1937 - James Gillett, 22nd Governor of California (b. 1860)
• 1947 – King Christian X of Denmark (b. 1870)
• 1951 – Ivanoe Bonomi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1873)
• 1967 - Leo-Paul Desrosiers, French-Canadian journalist and novelist (b. 1896)
• 1982 - Archibald MacLeish, American poet and writer (b. 1892)
• 1990 - Horst Sindermann, German politician (b. 1915)
• 1991 – Don Siegel, American movie director (b. 1912)
• 1992 - Benny Hill, British comedian and actor (b. 1924)
• 1993 - Cantinflas, Mexican comedian and actor (b. 1911)
• 1994 - Jean Carmet, French actor (b. 1920)
• 1996 - Tran Van Tra, Vietnamese general and politician (b. 1918)
• 1996 – Christopher Robin Milne, son of the writer A. A. Milne (b. 1920)
• 1999 - Deaths in the Columbine High School massacre:
  • Cassie Bernall, victim of the Columbine High School massacre (b. 1981)
  • Rachel Joy Scott, victim of the Columbine High School massacre (b. 1981)
  • Eric Harris, perpetrator of the Columbine High School massacre (b. 1981)
  • Dylan Klebold, perpetrator of the Columbine High School massacre (b. 1981)

• 2001 - Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1946)
• 2002 - Alan Dale, American singer (b. 1925)
• 2002 - Pierre Rapsat, Belgian singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
• 2003 - Ruth Hale, American playwright and actress (b. 1908)
• 2003 – Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1976)
• 2003 – Bernard Katz, German biophysicist (b. 1911)
• 2005 - Zygfryd Blaut, Polish footballer (b. 1943)
• 2010 – Dorothy Height, American Civil Rights activist (b. 1912)
• 2011 - Journalists killed in Libya:
  • Tim Hetherington, British photojournalist (b. 1970)
  • Chris Hondros, American photographer (b. 1970)
• 2014 - Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, American boxer (b. 1937)
• 2014 - Neville Wran, Australian politician, former Premier of New South Wales (b. 1926)
• 2014 - Benedikt Sarnov, Russian literary critic and writer (b. 1927)
• 2014 - Alistair MacLeod, Canadian writer and academic (b. 1936)
• 2015 - Frederic Morton, Austrian-American writer (b. 1924)
• 2015 - Aharon Lichtenstein, French-born American-Israeli rabbi (b. 1933)
• 2015 - Richard Anthony, Egyptian-born French singer (b. 1938)
• 2015 - Bob St. Clair, American football player (b. 1931)
• 2015 - Ibrahim Yusri, Egyptian actor (b. 1950)
• 2015 - Peter Howell, English actor (b. 1929)
• 2016 - Victoria Wood, English comedienne, actress and writer (b. 1953)
• 2016 - Guy Hamilton, English film director (b. 1922)
• 2016 - Avril Henry, English academic (b. 1934)
• 2016 - Leonie Kramer, Australian academic (b. 1924)
• 2016 - Harry Perkowski, American baseball player (b. 1922)
• 2017 - Germaine Mason, Jamaican-born British high jumper (b. 1983)
• 2017 - Jay Dickey, American politician (b. 1939)
• 2017 - Roberto Ferreiro, Argentine footballer (b. 1935)
• 2017 - Cuba Gooding, Sr., American singer (b. 1944)
• 2017 - Lawrence Hogan, American politician (b. 1928)
• 2017 - Magdalena Abakanowicz, Polish sculptor (b. 1930)
• 2018 - Avicii, Swedish DJ, musician and music producer (b. 1989)
• 2018 - Roy Bentley, English footballer (b. 1924)
• 2018 - Pedro Erquicia, Spanish journalist and television producer (b. 1943)
• 2018 - Rajinder Sachar, Pakistan-Indian political activist and judge (b. 1923)
• 2018 - Al Swift, American broadcaster and politician (b. 1935)
• 2018 - Shane Yarran, Australian rules footballer (b. 1989)
• 2018 - Charles Zwick, American civil servant (b. 1926)
• 2019 - Joe Armstrong, British computer scientist (b. 1950)
• 2019 - Reggie Cobb, American football player (b. 1968)
• 2019 - Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Iranian artist (b. 1922)
• 2019 - Karl Grob, Swiss footballer (b. 1946)
• 2019 - Braulio Lara, Dominican baseball player (b. 1988)
• 2019 - David V. Picker, American film executive and producer (b. 1931)

• 4/20 - Cannabis culture
• UN Chinese language Day
• Ridvan begins (Baha'i faith)